From The Eyes of the Most Wonderful Bloke That Ever Existed
by DashFnanz
Summary: Sirius Black is the man. Today's events are gonna prove it. Or, the day when Sirius is just as awesome as he always is, James is a prat with feelings, Remus is so done and Peter is thankfully out of the picture.


**Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments) Forum**

**Category: Arts & Crafts (Artists in the Arts & Crafts Movement)**

**Task #2: Write about a brotherly relationship (can be actual brothers, can just be friends).**

**Also written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments) Forum**

**November Writing Club.**

**Challenge: Disney Challenge (The Princess Diaries 1&2)**

**Prompt #7: Character (Nicholas Deveraux) - Write about someone charming.**

**Challenge: Not-Straight November**

**Prompt #3: Sexuality - Gay**

**Prompt #10: Item - Glasses**

**Prompt #12: Character - James Potter**

**Challenge: All Sorts of Space (Toujours Pur)**

**Prompt #10: Write about Sirius Black.**

**Challenge: Showtime (Mean Girls: The Musical)**

**Prompt #2: It Roars - (restriction) no characters older than 16.**

**Challenge: Amber's Attic**

**Prompt #29: Genre - Romance/Fluff**

**Challenge: Film Festival (John Q)**

**Prompt #21: Word - heart**

**Hey guys, I'm back! Exams kicked my ass, but I survived! Thanks for being patient!**

**J.K Rowling is a goddess and I can never compare. So, she keeps the characters, the places and her own created world, while I borrow them all every now and then like the pathetic human I am. The plot is all mine though!**

**P.S.: I am relatively new to writing fanfiction and am still getting a feel for this. So please do review and give me your opinions on my writing. I need all the constructive criticism I can get! However, I am still getting into the whole writing scene, so please, don't flame me! I write for my own pleasure and also because I know the pleasure one gets while reading someone else's stories, not for money or commissions or anything else. So, if you don't like the themes for my stories, please hit the back button and move out before getting traumatised by my writing. I will post warnings accordingly.**

**Fic Warnings: m/m slash, swearing, references to adult situations.**

**Word Count: 3479 words**

"You'll never believe what she said!"

That's how my dream ended. It was such a good one too, with Firewhiskey and multi-coloured feather boas and everything.

So here was I, rudely woken up by Crazy Hair's unholy screeching at ass o'clock in the morning. On a Sunday, that too.

Tosser.

"Shuddup 'n let m'sleep, wanker," I mumbled into my pillow.

"Pads, it's just past noon, how much more beauty sleep do you need? You missed breakfast already." James Potter replied.

What? Don't judge me, okay! It's Sunday!

I sit up in bed grumpily and swing my legs over to one side. The polished wood feels refreshingly cool against my skin, relaxing the sour mood I find myself in.

"Ugh. Fine, I'm up! I need to piss anyway."

"Good, because we've got a major problem. I need you at your best as soon as possible, Padfoot, so hurry up in there."

"It takes time to look as good as I do, Prongs. You can't rush perfection."

"Oh please, Sirius. You can take as long as you'd like in front of the mirror, but at the end of it all, it still doesn't get better than _this_." And classic eyebrow-raise in place, he gestures at my sleep-worn appearance.

How dare he! Oh, the nerve!

"How dare you! Are you trying to imply that I look any less than the perfectly perfect god of perfection I am? Lies and slander!"

"I think that you're a perfect diva. Does that count?"

"Suck it, James. Practically every girl in Hogwarts will be willing to testify against your _utter lies_!"

"Whatever. Why do care what the girls here think of you anyway? It's not like you're interested in any of them."

"Well no, of course not. I've got enough loving going on - my delicious little bookworm makes sure of that. But what can I say? They validate my sheer _awesomeness_. Can't say no to that, right?"

James rolls his eyes hard enough to make his head spin.

"You, my friend, are even more conceited than I am! And that's saying something."

"I'll say! Since when do you admit that you're conceited?"

"Padfoot!"

"Prongs!"

I swear he made the first move. One minute I was just sitting there with a smirk on my face, a slight grimace teasing the corners of my mouth (because, damn, I had to _go_) and in the next second, I was being tackled backwards by a whirlwind of crazy hair and pointy elbows.

I'm not surprised though. I've been attacked for far less reasons than this. James tends to get violent when he's frustrated. Which is hilarious, because he fights like a girl.

And that is how the love of my life found the two of us when he opened the door to our Gryffindor dormitory.

Somewhere in our wrestling match one of us was clumsy enough to drag us both to the floor (James James James!) and so that's where we were, sprawled out at the foot of my bed - my arms circled around Prongs' neck in an awkward chokehold and one of his hands tugging on my hair hard enough to pull my head backwards. James' stupid hair was all over the place and his stupid glasses were hanging off one ear. My left leg was wrapped around his waist, heel digging into his stomach; his weight was purposely concentrated on my long-past-numb-bordering-on-painful (ow ow ow!) right leg.

There was so much yelling and cursing going on - it was like a two-man war zone. No doubt, if McGonagall was in here, she'd be screaming her head off. Thank Merlin it's just my boyfriend. He's far less anger-oriented. Plus, he is already desensitized to the special brand of madness that is the James and Sirius Show.

Remus John Lupin took one look at the boxer-clad barnacle I currently am, not to mention the red-faced, dishevelled git I'm half-choking, glasses askew and crazy hair all over the place (nearly six years of sharing a dorm with him and I'm still not over how _utterly out of control_ his hair is) and sighed heavily.

Moony's face was the perfect picture of resignation. I don't understand how my boyfriend can look at me (and Prongs) like he wants to passively murder me (and Prongs) and still look so damn adorable. Maybe it's the cardigan that does it.

"Well, at least you're up." He says. He even sounds like he wants to passively murder me. Still adorable though.

"Hi, Remus," Prongs and I mutter sheepishly.

Out of all the Marauders, Remus is by far the most responsible, and you know, _mother-hennish_. No matter how much we try, we just can't seem to get it out of his system. (_Believe_ me, we've tried).

Unfortunately for us, Remus Lupin always seems to catch us at the most inopportune moments.

Like now, for instance.

"Will you two get up already? Sirius Orion Black, let go of him immediately!"

We scramble up from the floor immediately like a couple of contrite children. Moony has that kind of effect on people.

"Sorry, Moons. He started it tho-"

My brilliant and not at all childish attempt at winning back his favour abruptly ends in a choked-off grunt. As if my slowly un-numbing leg isn't enough _(pinsandneedles_, ow!) the git jams his pointy elbows right in my solar plexus! On purpose, that too!

Not helpful, James.

"Out of the way!" I shriek manly-ly. Rushing for the bathroom door across the dorm, I try to hold it in a little while longer.

"James, I'm gonna kill you!" I holler at him before running through the door.

I dramatically slam the heavy door shut. Even when desperate, Sirius Black knows how to make an exit.

On the other side, James' raucous laughter sounds like a dying hyena.

Tosser.

The three of us were walking down to the Great Hall for lunch when I remembered why this whole fiasco started.

"So, what did you do to Red this time?" I ask James.

Remus groans. "Don't ask," is his long suffering advice.

"Wha- why do you think- how's it always _my_ fault?"

"James, you are _the master_ when it comes to annoying Lily Evans, especially when you're trying to _impress _her. You're a natural at it. Like you were born to get under her skin. Don't get me wrong, passion is a very important aspect of a relationship, probably the most crucial - but, Prongs, the way you go about it is so, _uh_, so-"

"Oh, hold on, Sirius," Remus interjects. "Are you saying that you've been trying to, what, ignite _passion _in our relationship every single time you've been your exasperating self? That's your excuse?"

Oh oh, Remus looks mad. God, he's hot when he's mad.

I give him my most winning smile and kiss his cheek. "That's one reason, Moony Moons, but the truth is that you are just so damn cute when you get mad. I think it's really sexy."

Three. Two. One. Yes!

I knew that last sentence would make him blush. He's so predictable that way.

Remus turns his head and looks away from me, eyeing the portraits as we walk past them. He's trying to hide his flushed cheeks, but I can still spy that delightful crimson bloom and the reluctant little smile playing about his bitten lips.

He mutters self-consciously, "What am I going to do with you?"

My grin turns suggestive. With my signature smirk, I say salaciously, "Oh, Rem, the question is, what can I do with you?"

If possible, he turns even redder. "Shut up, Sirius. And please, for the love of all that is holy, stop trying to deliberately irritate me! I'm quite sure that you get on my nerves sufficiently enough without you doing it on purpose. You don't need to make it your life's mission to drive me up the wall, you know!"

Oh, he walked right into that one.

"Don't I? Because, you know, I'd be more than happy to place you right up against that wall and drive-"

"Ooohkay, that's more than I need to know!"

I didn't realize that James was still here. Why does he always, _always _ruin my best moments?

I can practically _see_ sweet satisfaction escaping my grasp. Turning around, I confront Prongs' traumatised face. Serves him right for butting in.

"What do you want?"

"Hello, still here! We were talking about me and my heroic perseverance in the face of yet another denial of the hand of the fair Lily Evans, and you go and spoil it all by being all disgusting and gross with Moony! I do _not _need to hear what exactly my best friend does for _fun_. Ugh!"

Wimp.

"Jamie, if I have to power through hearing hours worth of sonnets and love poems for your fair Lily Evans every day, most of which are terrible, by the way, you can listen to a few minutes of me appreciating my gorgeous boyfriend. My real, non-imaginary, non-fantasized boyfriend who acknowledges me as more than a certified pest!"

James looks at me with exaggerated sorrow. "Oh, Sirius Black, you have crushed my heart! My soul! What will I do now? Are my sonnets and love poems really that terrible? How will I win over the heart of the fair Lily Evans without my ardent declarations of love?"

"By showing off your skills at melodrama?" Remus piped up sarcastically. He looked amused.

James seemed a little off, though. His dramatics lacked the indifference he usually wears. Something's up.

I can see Remus' expression from the periphery of my vision. He looks like he's contemplating something. He must've clued in onto something as well.

I drag Prongs to the nearest alcove, as casually as I can. Which is to say, not much at all. Remus tags along behind us.

"Siri," he whispers in my ear. "Do you want me to go ahead while you talk to him? I'll save you both seats at the Gryffindor table."

This is why I love him. He understands me so well. I smile at him softly. "That'd be great, Moony," is all I say, but the sweet smile he gives me in return tells me that he's picked up on everything I've left unsaid.

Remus turns to James and smiles at him too. It's a different smile, which somehow conveys the message he doesn't voice out loud. _Don't give up_. It's the one he gives me every time my family sends me a Howler and calls me a disappointment, it's the one he sends my way every time my brother Regulus calls me a blood traitor and turns away from me. That smile has always given me a reason to move on and push forward. I hope that it helps James as well. _Don't give up, James._

Remus walks away without looking back. I watch him go, then turn back to my best friend.

James just looks at me in bewilderment. "What's going on, Siri?" he questions.

I observe the boy standing before me. Crazy hair, round glasses, pointy elbows and everything, this guy has been there for me for as long as I have known him. He's been the first one to laugh with me till our stomachs protested; the first one I sat down to discuss pranks with; my first partner in crime.

James was the first to whom I spilled my sob story of a family. He was the first I told my suspicions of Remus being a werewolf to. He's the first one I came out to, the first to hear about my crush on Remus, and he's the one who played behind the scenes and brought Remus and me together. If James hadn't done what he did back then, he wouldn't be the only one right now with a fantasy of love and a frustrated heart.

He took me in, you know. Last summer, when my family situation got so bad that I just had to leave - no planning, no preparation. He took me in without hesitation when I stood on his doorstep that summer night, carrying an overnight bag and my school trunk. He took it all in one quick glance - the broken expression, the empty eyes, the bloodied fist. That one glance must have told him enough to pull me in and let me crash in his room, because during my entire stay in Potter Manor, neither James nor his parents once asked me any questions about the reason for my unannounced visit, nor did they try to put me up in another room. James must've known that I needed the company to stay sane.

I don't always say it out loud, but James is more my brother that Regulus will ever be. We have been there for each other since we were eleven. And as his brother, I can read James better than anyone else. Even right now, I know exactly what he is thinking.

"James," I say to my brother, "what stupid idea are you entertaining in that thick head of yours?"

His eyes widen. He knows that I know. "Nothing," he protests half-heartedly. His jaw tightens subtly. "I don't know what you're talking about, Siri. I am the _man_, I don't do stupid." The joke falls flat as soon as it escapes his lips.

I continue to stare at him. He's weaker than me, I know that he will give in first. Sure enough, after what feels like an hour or two, but can't possibly be more than thirty seconds, James looks down at his feet.

"It's no use, Siri. I'm chasing after a pipe dream. She's - she's amazing, I'll never deny that, but, Siri, how long will I keep doing this?"

This, this the boy I had glimpsed, hiding behind the indifference. I can tell that this has been building up for a while now, but nevertheless I ask him, "Is this about whatever it was that she said to you this morning? Because you still haven't told me what she said, which is unlike you."

"No, no," he replies. He looks tired now; I can see it in his eyes. "None of her remarks today was any different from the ones she has made before. But that's the point, isn't it? Her opinion of me hasn't changed for six years. _Six years_, Siri. I have tried every way I could think of, just to get her to like me, and her response has always been no. Even with your help, her answer has always been the same, hasn't it? _Leave me alone, Potter. _It's what she said today, and what she said last month, and what she said last year. Hell, it's exactly what she has been trying to tell me for the last six years. I just - maybe it's time to listen to what she says. Maybe I should just give her up. Move on. Find someone else. Don't you think?" 

I don't know what to say. I have so much I want to tell him, but I don't know how to put it into words.

This is who my brother is. On the outside, he's the most carefree, light-hearted bloke in Hogwarts. The Quidditch Captain, the proud Gryffindor, the rich Potter heir. Everyone thinks that he has it all, and he does. But sometimes, they also presume that he's just a dumb jock, with no serious thoughts of his own, and that's where they're dead wrong.

James can internalise shit like nobody's business.

All of his biggest conflicts are battled out in his brain. Every big decision he takes is weighed in the depths of his mind and the silence of his thoughts. It's like he can't stop thinking long enough to voice it aloud, whether to himself or to another confidant, even me. Sometimes, he needs to be saved from himself.

Luckily, I know him well enough to know when he needs rescuing and how to go about it. This one needs to be handled subtly, tactfully and delicately.

I slap him upside the head.

"Mate, do you hear yourself? Give her up? Snap out of it, you dolt!"

Okay, so you might not call it subtle. Or tactful. Definitely not delicate. But this is what counts as delicate where we're concerned.

Besides, this whole 'give up, move on' spiel of James? Scary shit. You might not think much of it, but this is a huge deal for him. If there is one thing that's consistent about the bloke, it's that he is the most relentlessly tenacious person I know. And it works, too, because his non-stop pestering usually changes minds at some point of time, when the other person surrenders to the utter insanity he puts them through.

And Red? This girl has been on his mind for six years, since the day they first met. He's been head over heels in love with her for almost as long. And I mean literally. I've stopped counting the number of times his starry eyed staring has caused him to crash into a wall or trip over something once I reached thirty. That he's made up his mind to move on from one thing he has desired for the longest time? It's like watching a hypothetical breakdown of everything that is James Potter.

James quirks a rueful smile. "I take it that you're of a different opinion?"

"Bloody hell, of course I am! I've had to deal with your incessant obsession with that chick for years! You don't get to pull the plug on this just as I've started to scheme for you! I've made a nine-month plan and everything!"

"Nine-month plan?"

"The five-month plan wasn't helpful. Moony helped me design this one, though, so it has to work out. I spent efforts on this, mate - so you can't just quit! I sacrificed my Moony-time to draw it up! I demand justice!"

"But, Pads -"

"Don't you 'but Pads' me! You know what justice is? You justifying my labour by pulling _your head out of your bloody arse_ and fighting for her!"

"But, Pads -"

"What did I say about that, Prongs?"

Sigh.

"Is she worth it?"

"What?" 

"Red. Is she worth it? Only you can answer that, mate. That's something I can't tell you."

"I - Well, yes. I love her, Siri."

"Then that's all you need to know, don't you? Don't think too much about love, man. It'll just drive you crazy."

James laughs. "Thanks, man."

"Fight for her, Jamie. Maybe a little less aggressively, but fight for her. Cut the crap, and show her what you're really like. Give it your best shot. And if Red still doesn't see how awesome you at the end of it all, well, maybe she isn't _all that_ anyway."

The seriousness clouding James' eyes starts to clear.

"That was deep, mate," he comments mischievously, "especially for a conceited smart arse like you!"

"So this is the thanks I get for snapping you out of your angsty pity-party of doom? That's rich, mate!"

"I was not _angsty_! I don't even know the word means!"

"That's okay, Prongs, you don't know a lot of words."

"Hey!"

With a giant grin on his face, he playfully tries to tackle me. He misses, of course. Laughing like maniacs, we run the rest of the way to the Great Hall, Jamie trying to catch me the whole time.

We make it to the Great Hall and spy Remus sitting at the Gryffindor table, a few seats away from Evans. The rest of the table is pretty full. Moony gives us an apologetic look as we walk towards him.

I sit down next to Moony, James sitting opposite us. Moony whispers to me, "I'm sorry, but she sat down after I did. Everywhere else is full."

I whispered back, "It's fine, Rem. He's fine now."

Remus still looks concerned though. "Are you sure? How did it go?"

"Well, hell's stopped freezing over, if that's what you're talking about. Besides, it's James. Even if he did decide to get over her, you know it wouldn't last forever."

Remus looks relieved. "Yes," he replies, "yes, I know."

His eyes rove past me, then to James. He smiles slowly, that pleased little smile he usually reserves for when something goes according to plan.

"Looks like he's back in the game, Pads. I don't know what you said to him, but it seems to be working."

I look over to James, wondering what Moony is talking about.

James is smiling at Red. Not a smirk, not a grin, not that smarmy shit he tries to pull on her when he wants to impress her. It's a real smile, an honest to Merlin, genuine smile. He actually listened to me. Huh.

And, believe it or not, Red is smiling back! It's a small one, and she looks down so quickly that I can barely catch it, but I can see the effect it has on Jamie.

This is real progress. Looks like Jamie boy has an actual chance at this!

I turn back to my boyfriend, and he has this special look in his eyes. _I'm so proud of you, Siri,_ it says.

I give him my best smile, and say in a hopeful and seductive (and hopefully seductive) voice, "So, _Remus_, when do I get my reward?"

His eyes turn heated, with a promise of _soon_. Looks like I'm getting laid tonight.

It's official. _I am the man_.


End file.
